


Unfinished Business

by dracsmith



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Angst, Family Issues, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-08
Updated: 2013-11-08
Packaged: 2017-12-31 19:23:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1035448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracsmith/pseuds/dracsmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peri worries about her mother and stepfather. The Doctor worries about Adric. Nigel and Matt worry about their vanished meal ticket. Everyone winds up in Tangier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unfinished Business

**Author's Note:**

> Set immediately after "Planet of Fire."
> 
> Originally published in Merlin's Mixed Media Madness in the late 80's or early 90's.

"Unfinished business..." mumbled the Doctor as he studied the console.

"Huh?" asked Peri.

"Unfinished business." The fair-haired young man in the cricket outfit flicked a few switches and the Time Rotor was arrested in mid-rise. "There now, we're in stasis. Now," he turned to Peri, "I don't know quite where we should go next, but you ought to get settled in first anyway."

"Settled in?"

"Yes, you should have a room of your own here. Or did you think you were going to sleep in the antechamber..." He pointed to the brass bed that stood just beyond the door to the control room, "and live out of a plastic bag for the next three months?"

"Well, I-I hadn't really thought about it...."

"I thought not. Well, come on! We'll find you something." Peri trailed after the Doctor through the TARDIS corridors.

"Just how big IS this place, Doctor?"

"I THINK," said the Doctor, pausing in his tracks, "It has a googol of rooms. Or is that a googolplex? I must learn to pay attention to details. Even if it means agreeing with Borusa."

Peri considered asking what googolplex and Borusa meant, but decided that the answer to that question would be no more understandable than the answer to her last question. She satisfied herself with a general comment. "Well, it SEEMS like it goes on forever!"

"Yes, I suppose it would--to you. Especially if you WILL wear those ridiculous shoes." The Doctor softened his teasing with a smile. "We'd better get you a room nearer the control room."

They turned and headed back down the corridor. "You can't have Tegan's room, because we never did repair the interdimensional instability after that problem on Terminus.

And you can't have Turlough's, because his things are still in there.... Ah! There's an empty room NEXT to Turlough's, which you can pretty up as you like. Here we are." The Doctor opened the door and waved Peri in.

"What's all this junk, Doctor?" she asked, turning to him. She saw his face suddenly change when he entered the room.

"It belongs to Adric. When I gave his room to Turlough, I never wondered what Turlough did with Adric's things. I just forgot all about them."

Peri picked up a necklace shaped like a DNA helix and cleared off a chair to sit in. The room's furnishings, though topsy turvy, were clearly those of a teenaged boy. In fact, Peri doubted the original room had been much tidier than this one. "Tell me about Adric, Doctor," she said quietly.

So he did. It was the first time he had sat down and explained the story from beginning to end to anyone. For the first time, he found himself laughing again at Adric's adventures in the "survival suit" on Kinda, marveling at the boy's brilliance in his forced construction of Castrovalva. But it was not for the first time that he had to hold back tears at he memory of Adric's death. "The worst thing...," the Doctor stopped to get control, "was that he never knew he didn't need to break the codes to save Earth. He went to death thinking that he'd failed."

"Maybe not," said Peri consolingly. "I mean, you don't KNOW what might have happened in those last few...."

The Doctor cut her off. "That's just it, I don't know." Peri decided silence was the best decision and the two sat quietly for a minute. "I'm sorry, Peri, I didn't mean to snap at you," said the Doctor.

"It's okay, really."

"Let's find you another room."

* * * * *

Peri finished arranging her new room and looked around it in satisfaction. "There! I'd better memorize it now, because it'll never be this neat again!" She imagined her parents scolding her to clean her room at home and chuckled. Funny, but she realized that she missed her mother and Howard. If only Howard knew what kind of ecological systems she was going to get to look at!

Suddenly she wondered just what her mother and Howard thought had happened to her. Her mother wouldn't know she hadn't gone to Morocco--but what about Howard? Would he think she'd swum to shore, sold his platinum thingy and shipped out? Or would he have checked the airport and found she hadn't left? Did he think she'd drowned? Peri's happy mood was completely gone and she tapped her feet on the floor. Then she left and went quickly to the control room.  
"Doctor, have you decided yet where we're going?"

The Doctor looked up from a map he was studying. "Not really."

"Could you take me back to Earth?"

"You want to go home? Peri, you're perfectly welcome here. Is anything wrong?"

"No, no, I don't want to go home. I just want to let Howard-my stepfather-know I'm okay. He probably thinks I've d-drowned." Peri looked down, her lower lip trembling. The Doctor came over and put his hands on her shoulders.

"All right. I'll take you back to Lanzarote. But you will come back with me, won't you? I've thought of some wonderful places I've just got to show you."

"Okay," Peri looked up at him and managed a shaky smile.

"It's a deal." The Doctor turned back to the console and set coordinates for Earth. The central column began to rise and fall.  
Soon the column stopped moving, the Doctor checked the instruments and beamed. "Lanzarote--the day after you left, Peri. Let's take a look." He switched on the viewscreen.

They saw a narrow street crowded with people in long loose robes and bustling with tiny booths selling everything from jewelry to sweets. The Doctor switched on the audio and they could hear the vendors hawking their wares, and the chattering of the people.

"Doctor," said Peri, "this isn't Lanzarote."

"You're right, Peri, it's Tangier. Perhaps we can post a letter from here to your stepfather--"

"Tangier? Morocco? Hey, maybe I can find those two English guys I was supposed to come here with! They could send a cable for me!" Peri headed for the door, which stayed shut.

"Well?"

"Peri," said the Doctor ominously, "you are not going out there in THAT. Not a ghost of a chance."

Peri looked at her unbuttoned blouse tied in a knot above her tummy and her orange Bermuda shorts. "Why not?"

"Do you see any women out there showing so much as an ankle? You can't go around in this country showing your legs and so much of your, um, arms. Do you want to scandalize the natives?"

"But I don't have anything else to wear!"

"There's a whole wardrobe down that corridor. Second left after the galley. Find yourself something with long sleeves."

"Oh, all right," Peri grumbled. She went muttering along the corridor. "Probably wants me to wear something prim and proper. I'll fix him."

Peri reappeared in the control room a few minutes later. "Better, Doctor?"

He looked at her. She wore blue jeans, sneakers and a garish sweatshirt from the University of Aldeberan-Eastern Moon. She carried a small purse and wore a brightly-colored bandanna around her neck.

"Marginally," the Doctor admitted. He unrolled his hat and put it on his head. "Let's go find your friends."

The Doctor locked the TARDIS door behind them. "Oh, that reminds me, Peri," he said, digging around in his pockets. Peri watched as he searched for some time and finally retrieved a long chain with a key strung on it, identical to the one he had just used. "A key for you, Peri. So, if we get separated, you can still get into the TARDIS."

"Thanks, Doctor," said Peri, hanging the key around her neck. After a moment's thought, she tucked it inside her sweatshirt--no use in getting it stolen. It occurred to her that, if she got separated from the Doctor, it would probably mean she was lost and couldn't find the TARDIS anyway, but she decided not to quibble. The old police box had landed in a quiet niche and she and the Doctor now stepped out into the road. The noise and heat and crowd hit her all at once. For a moment, she felt dizzy, then exhilarated. This was the fabled, exotic Morocco, after all.

They passed through the market. The vendors called to her to buy lamps and woven mats, bracelets and sweetmeats.  
Ignoring them, she said to the Doctor. "Nigel and Matt said I should meet them at the Old Kasimir Inn, when I got here. They might still be waiting for us there, if they just think I missed the first flight out."

The Doctor frowned. He would have preferred that Peri simply mail her stepfather an explanatory note and then leave, but he supposed her friends deserved an explanation too. "All right, Peri. Let's buy a street map and see if we can find the place." They found a vendor with postcards, souvenirs and street maps and bought a map that showed inns and restaurants as well as the more usual landmarks. The Doctor put on his wire-rimmed half-glasses and peered through them, unfolding the map. "Here it is, Peri, and here WE are on the map. It's not too far to walk, I think."

"All right," Peri said unenthusiastically. It looked pretty far to HER, but she didn't want to get teased.

It was farther than the Doctor thought, but closer than Peri had dreaded. Still, by the time they got there, they were both hot and tired."Before we look for your friends, Peri, why don't we go into the bar here--" the Doctor gestured to a lounge just off the lobby, "--and get something to drink."

"Good idea," gasped Peri. They entered the lounge. It contained mostly tourists in Western clothes. Peri was glad for once not to be stared at; she had a feeling that the locals wouldn't approve of a woman going into a bar.

They sat at a small table and a waiter came to take their order. Peri ordered a Bloody Mary. The Doctor frowned and ordered ginger beer.

"Beg pardon?"

"Just bring him a Coke," said Peri. "And be sure you put ice in it," she called after him.

"Thank you, Peri," the Doctor said with a smile. "Ah, yes - the two things Americans can never find overseas: an iced drink and a hot shower."

Peri laughed. "And I suppose Time Lords never find - oh, let's see--a slow clock and a fast TARDIS!"

That set the Doctor laughing and Peri joined in. The waiter brought their drinks and a plate of chips. The Doctor told her about funny customs on other planets until they finished.  
When the waiter brought the tab on its little tray, the Doctor looked embarrassed and began rooting around in his pockets again.

Peri smiled and reached into her purse. She pulled out an American Express card and tossed it onto the tray. The waiter bowed and carried it away.

"Thanks," said the Doctor.

"Well, if Mother bothers to read her next statement, she'll KNOW I'm in Morocco anyway!" At Peri's words, the Doctor saw some young men on the other side of the bar, out of Peri's sight, turn in their direction. One of them spoke to another, and two headed over to their table. There was a look in their eyes the Doctor didn't like. The waiter brought back the card and slip to sign and the Doctor said urgently, "Let's go, Peri."

She slipped the card into her purse and pulled out her copy of the credit slip. The Doctor drummed his fingers impatiently as she carefully removed the carbons and tore them up. Just when she was finally ready to go, the two young men reached their table.

"Nigel!" exclaimed Peri in delight. "Who's your friend?"

"Hi, Peri. This is Pete. We were afraid you weren't coming."

"I was delayed." Pete and Nigel were staring at the Doctor. "Oh, this is my friend, the Doctor. I'm traveling with him now--in fact, we're just passing through."

"Oh," said Nigel. "And we had such plans." There was a menacing undertone in his voice.

The Doctor stood up. "Well, I'm sorry, but we really must be going." He was stopped by a voice behind him.

"You're not going anywhere, mate."

"Matt!" Peri exclaimed.

"That's right, luv. And this is Jim." Matt gestured to a husky youth behind him. "We're going to give you a nice little tour, Peri." He shoved the Doctor back into his chair. "She won't get hurt--unless we catch you trying to follow us."

"W-where are you taking me?" Peri asked, shrinking back in her seat. Nigel took her wrist and pulled her to her feet.

"Someplace safe. And we're going to send a nice letter to your rich mother and your famous stepfather and they'll send us lots of money to get you back."

"You don't have to do all that! You want money, why don't you just take my credit card? You can get cash with it--"

"You told us yourself, sweetie, you folks put a limit on your credit card. That's why you couldn't charge your ticket here from Lanzarote," said Nigel.

"Besides, luv," put in Matt, "We're not talking hundreds. We're talking hundreds of thousands. Now come ON!" Matt and Nigel each took one of her arms and hustled her off. SHe looked back over her shoulder, piteously crying, "Doctor!" The Doctor just sat and watched them go.

"Your friend's a real wimp, Peri," Nigel said as the little group moved down the street.

"A lot you know!" said Peri and kicked him.

Meanwhile, the Doctor left the bar by a different exit and moved in the opposite direction--toward the TARDIS. The simple-looking key Peri wore around her neck was in fact a complex device, the only instrument besides a set of cipher-indent keys that could open the TARDIS lock. As such, it gave off a characteristic magnetic aura that could be detected by instruments in the TARDIS. Once the reading stabilized, he could assume that she was at their hideout, and go rescue her. He really didn't think they would hurt her, if they were really after a fat ransom. He hoped he wasn't guessing wrong.

In the TARDIS he set the instruments to track Peri by her key and put her location up on the screen, superimposed on a map of the city. When it stopped and stayed stopped for fifteen minutes, he decided that was likely to be where she was being held. Too short a hop for the TARDIS. He memorized the location, marked it on the map and set out on foot.

Peri was "escorted" to a small house opening into a narrow alley. She was pushed in and found herself in a plain room with a few chairs and tables. There was a kitchenette to one side and a door leading to a short hallway in the back. Nigel sat her down in one of the chair and tied her to it securely.

Matt, Pete and Jim went around checking the other rooms. Peri noticed a list of rents, daily and weekly, on the inside of the main door, and guess they were in a kind of a rental suite.

"All clear, Nigel," Matt reported. He grinned nastily at Peri. "Don't you like our little home away from home, luv? All the modern conveniences. And no windows."

"Then why am I tied up? This is very uncomfortable!" Peri complained.

Nigel raised his hand is if to smack her, then lowered it. "Quit your whining! I know you'd be running for the door every time it opens and closes. This way, I know where you are. Now shut up!"

"I'm not going to shut up! If you think you can--oomph!" At a sign from Nigel, Matt pulled off her bandanna and neatly tied it over her mouth as a gag.

"That's better."

Peri managed a growl and Nigel laughed. "Pete, Jim, I want you to get us some stamps and writing paper. Be sure you get enough postage for Lanzarote--this will be a very important letter and we wouldn't want it lost in the mail, would we?"

"Not at all," said Pete. "We'll be back in a just a few minutes."

The two big youths left and Peri sat feeling miserable.

The Doctor crept quietly along the narrow street. The map told him Peri was right - here. As he approached the house, he heard voices and saw Pete and Jim leaving. He ducked quietly back behind a garbage can and waited for them to go. Good, he thought. Not only did it confirm that he was in the right place, but it meant that there were only two captors to deal with. The Doctor entered the alley and studied the house. There were no windows and the front door was bound to be locked, if not bolted.

The Doctor considered for a minute. Then he began jumping up and down and banging on the door. With his hand half over his mouth, he shouted roughly, "It's Pete! Something's happened to Jim! Let me in!" The door was thrown back almost immediately and he found himself facing a startled Matt. "Hello," said the Doctor in his own voice and gave him a good punch in the jaw. Matt went over and the Doctor stepped over him into the house.

"What is it, Matt--oh, it's you again," said Nigel and leapt at the Doctor. They rolled over and over, the Doctor finally gaining the upper hand and putting him temporarily out with a Venusian Aikido hold. Then her heard Peri mmrphing furiously and rolled aside in time to escape a blow from Matt, who had staggered to his feet to attack the Doctor. A quick chop and Matt joined Nigel on the floor.

Peri was still mmrphing and rocking back and forth in her chair in agitation.

The Doctor quickly knelt before her and untied the bandanna. "Are you all right, Peri?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me, but they just sent Pete and Jim out for a small errand. "They'll be back any minute."

"Then we've got to hurry." The Doctor began fumbling in his pockets for a knife to cut Peri's bonds, when her heard her scream. He looked up, but never saw Pete and Jim come in. A blow from behind sent him sprawling across the floor. Pete stood over him. Jim went to help Nigel, who was coming to.

"Good timing, boys," gasped Nigel. "I think this fellow needs a lesson. Why don't you take you him out in the alley and explain a little to him, eh?"

"Sure thing, Nigel." The two dragged the half-conscious Doctor out the door. Nigel slammed the door behind them and locked it.

"They won't kill him, will they?" Peri asked.

"Oh, no. He'll be right as rain... eventually. But he won't be coming around here again." Nigel opened the door and peeked out. "That's enough, boys, I think he'll remember now. Come on in."

Peri gave a cry as the door opened to let them in and she caught a brief glimpse of the Doctor lying outside in a crumpled heap.

"Shhhh!" said Nigel and tied her bandanna up as a gag again. Pete and Jim came back in and shut and locked the door. Peri began to cry.

* * * * *

As afternoon wore into evening, her kidnappers untied Peri to have some dinner while they composed a ransom demand to her stepfather. As they worked on the note, Peri was mentally composing a letter herself. Nigel dictated to Matt, who wrote:  
Dear Howard:

We have your little girl, Peri, here where you'll never find her. But you'll get her back safe and sound, if you just do as we ask.

But, in Peri's mind, she was thinking:

_Dear Howard:  
I'm sorry I was such a jerk. You were right about those two English guys: they were real creeps. Anyway, I'm not with them; I've been travelling with the Doctor and Turlough. I think you may have met them._

Nigel and Matt continued their letter:

We want five hundred thousand American dollars in small, unmarked bills. Don't give us serial numbers in sequence. Leave it in locker #514 at the Tangier Airport and go wait in the business lounge. We'll send Peri to meet you there.

Peri's letter also continued:

_The first stop was to take Turlough home. That platinum thingy turned out to be some kind of homing beacon. It belonged to his government and they were glad somebody found it. Now, I'm traveling with the Doctor. It's very educational and I'll be back in time for the fall term._

Nigel went on:  
Don't even THINK of calling the police or you'll never see Peri alive again. Cooperate and you'll get her back very soon.

So did Peri:  
 _I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay, and I'll be back soon. Give Mother a kiss from me. I miss you both. And thanks, Howard, for worrying about me._

Nigel signed:

N

But Peri thought:

_Love, Peri._

* * * * *

After dinner, they tied her up again and went on to play a noisy game of poker in the back room. Periodically, one would come out and check on her, but the visits grew fewer and farther between as time went by. When she was alone, Peri struggled with her bonds, but she couldn't get free. She wondered how the Doctor was doing out there in the dark and the chill. Finally, Peri dozed off.

She woke with a start to see a boy standing in front of her. He wore a greenish jumpsuit with a yellow tunic. An orange patch on the left side seemed to shimmer with a ghostly star pattern. He put his finger to his lips and began untying her.

"Who are you? How did you get in?" she whispered when the gag was off.

"I'm a friend. I came through the door." He finished untying her and she stood up, rubbing her aching arms and legs. "I'm an old friend of the Doctor's. My name is Adric. I don't suppose he ever mentioned--"

"Adric?" Peri whispered. "But, you're dead!"

"I know, but I seem to be cursed as well. Somehow, I'm trapped here, reliving Earth's history. Right from the beginning! I guess it's so I can see what I destroyed in 2526 with my failure."

Peri put her hand out to him. She could just touch him, but he didn't feel quite real. "Adric, the Doctor told me something he always wished you knew. The freighter was spiralling back in time when it blew up. You didn't have to stop it, it didn't change history. It's what killed the dinosaurs."

Adric's eyes lit up. "So, that's why I found myself in that time! I wasn't being punished--that's when I really died. It was my own guilt keeping me here. Now, I can go." He looked down at Peri and, in his eyes, she saw old sorrow and new relief. "But first, I have to help you. I'd been wandering aimlessly for so long. I remember hoping the Doctor would come and make everything all right. Then I found myself being drawn here and I realized it was the Doctor who needed me. He was--" Adric stopped.

"Was what? Is he dying?"

Adric didn't look at her. "He was... in bad shape. He'll be all right now. I got him to hospital--one where they speak English. When you leave, go left, then left again, and it's the second door on your right. Now, take your clothes off."

"What?"

"Oh, don't be such a girl." Adric was pulling his yellow tunic off over his head. "Change clothes with me. I'll stay here, dressed as you, and they may not realize you're gone for quite a while. That will give you and the Doctor time to get away safely. Then I can just walk out. When I said I came THROUGH the door-- well, being a ghost does have its advantages." Peri had to chuckle at this and, looking at the short, dark-haired boy, she realized that this plan might just work.

"Well, all right, but don't look."

A few minutes later, Peri were Adric's khaki jumpsuit, yellow top and soft boots; Adric wore the sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers. He sat in Peri's chair and she tied him up, fastening the bandanna loosely over the lower half of his face.

"Hey, aren't these ghost clothes?" Peri was struck by a sudden thought. "Am I going to find myself running around Morocco in my underwear any minute?"

Adric's laugh was muffled by the bandanna. "No, they'll last as long as you're on Earth, but you'd better change before the TARDIS dematerializes."

Peri swung her purse up on her shoulder and grabbed the ransom note.

"Hey," said Adric softly, "My star is back."

Peri looked down and saw a blue star, trimmed with gold, pinned to the orange patch on the tunic. She smiled.

"There's one other thing the Doctor must have wanted to tell you. When he told me about you, he almost broke down and cried. He loved you, Adric."

The boy looked down and Peri saw tears under his lashes. "I loved him too," he whispered. "Thank you, Peri. Now run." Peri unlocked the door and slipped out into the night.

Left, left, second door on the right. She stumbled into the hospital and let her eyes adjust to the bright light.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, I'm looking for someone who was brought here not long ago." Peri described the Doctor.

"He's right over here, Miss." The nurse pushed aside a curtain to reveal the Doctor in bed in an alcove. He was pale, but Peri was glad to see he was breathing normally. "Strange case. Are you his next-of-kin?"

"Yes, yes I am. I need to take him home to his own D-doctor." Peri tripped over the Doctor's name.

The Doctor seemed to hear it, for he opened his eyes and stared muzzily at the small, yellow-clad person with the shock of untidy dark hair standing next to his bed.

"Adric?"

"Yes, Doctor, it's all right now. I'm here to take you back to the TARDIS."

"Well done, Adric," the Doctor murmured, and closed his eyes again.

"He certainly recognizes you, so I suppose we can release him to you," said the nurse. "What insurance plan is he under?"

"No, I'll just pay the bill," said Peri, pulling out her credit card.

"Fine, fine. Right this way."

* * * * *

After the bill was paid, Peri and the nurse together got the Doctor out of bed. He was able to walk, leaning on "Adric," as he persisted in calling her, and somehow she got him out of the hospital, through the streets and back into the TARDIS. She tucked him into bed just outside the control room and went to change into her own clothes.

When she returned, he was sitting up in bed, rubbing his head. "Oh, Peri, good to see you." He swung his feet over the side of the bed, stopping as the abrupt motion made his head worse.

"Are you all right, Doctor?"

He was holding his ribs. "A few bruises, nothing worse. Ooh-ow."

Peri put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him gently back. He sank down onto the pillow again with some relief. "Peri?"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"You know, I could have sworn it was Adric that brought me to the hospital and then back here, but it was you, wasn't it?"

"Partly," said Peri. "You might say Adric was here in spirit." She giggled, then added seriously. "He knows, Doctor."

"That Earth was saved?"

"Yes--and more."

The Doctor smiled and relaxed. His eyes closed and he seemed to fall asleep. Abruptly, his eyes opened again. "Thank you, Peri," he said distinctly and fell fast asleep.

Peri left quietly and went back into the control room, where she rummaged around for paper and pen. Removing the ransom note, she had an envelope all stamped and addressed to professor Howard Foster. She sat down to write a letter to her stepfather.


End file.
